Cold (War) ~ Thursday Challenge Image for 01.27.05

Two aviation relics of the Cold War. The Convair B36J strategic bomber and the Lockheed F-94C "Starfire" fighter jet (right). As you can see I went a different route with this week's Thursday Challenge of Cold. Being that I was at the USAF Museum in December I have lots of photos of aircraft covering the entire history of powered flight. This makes the third entry today about aircraft. See the other two entries here and here.

TRIVIA QUESTION: What actor piloted a B36 in a 1955 film? Name the actor and the film.

The below is for the real aircraft geeks and tech heads that visit my site.

The following information is from the National USAF Museum web site.
Convair B36J strategic bomber
The B-36, an intercontinental bomber, was designed during WW II. The airplane made its maiden flight on August 8, 1946 and on June 26, 1948 the Strategic Air Command received its first B-36 for operational use. By August 1954, when production ended, more than 380 B-36s had been built for the USAF.
In 1958-59, the B-36 was replaced by the more modern B-52. During the years it was in service, the airplane was one of America's major deterrents to aggression by a potential enemy. The fact that the B-36 was never used in combat was indicative of its value in "keeping the peace."
The Museum's B-36J was flown to Wright Field from Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, on April 30, 1959. This was the last flight ever made by a B-36. It was also the first airplane to be placed inside the new Museum building.

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 230 ft.
Length: 162 ft. 1 in.
Height: 46 ft. 9 in.
Weight: 410,000 lbs. loaded
Armament: Sixteen M24 20mm cannons in eight nose, tail and fuselage turrets; plus bombs--nuclear or 86,000 lbs. of conventional
Engines: Six Pratt & Whitney R-4360s of 3,800 hp. ea. and four General Electric J-47s of 5,200 lbs. thrust ea.
Cost: $3,701,000
Serial number: 52-2220

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 435 mph.
Cruising speed: 230 mph.
Range: 10,000 miles
Service Ceiling: 45,700 ft.

Lockheed F-94C "Starfire" fighter jet
The F-94 series all-weather interceptors were developed from the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star. The prototype F-94 first flew on July 1, 1949. The Starfire was subsequently produced in the -A, -B, and -C series. The F-94C (originally designated the F-97A) was a fundamental redesign of the F-94B and made its first flight on January 18, 1950.
Improvements in the F-94C included a higher thrust engine, single point refueling, a redesigned wing, a sweptback horizontal stabilizer, upgraded fire-control and navigation systems and, later, mid-wing rocket pods. Twenty-four rockets were carried in the nose in a ring around the radome, shielded by retractable doors, with an additional 24 in the wing pods, if installed. The F-94C carried no guns. Starfires were employed in the air defense of the Continental U.S. in the 1950s. In the F-94A form, they served as the first all-jet all-weather interceptor for the Air Defense Command. The last F-94Cs were withdrawn from USAF service in 1959.
The aircraft on display has been painted to represent an F-94C assigned to the 60th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Otis AFB, Mass. during the late 1950s.

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 37 ft. 4 in.
Length: 44 ft. 6 in.
Height: 14 ft. 11 in.
Weight: 24,000 lbs. loaded
Armament: Twenty-four 2.75 in. Folding Fin Air Rockets (FFARs) in nose and twenty-four FFARs in two wing pods
Engine: Pratt & Whitney J48-P-5 or -5A of 8,750 lbs. thrust with afterburner
Crew: Two
Cost: $534,000
Serial Number: 50-980
C/N: 880-8025
Displayed As:50-1054

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 640 mph.
Cruising speed: 476 mph.
Range: 1,275 miles